Keeping You Posted — An OpenLetter from Jason Barnett, Executive Director of The UpTake

The social media buzz sparked by the live-streamed video of Wendy Davis’s 11-hour filibuster in the Texas State Senate is still going strong. The Columbia Journalism Review is practically fainting at the “sexy” power of this whole, new-fangled series of tubes and things we, um, call The Internet. CJR’s headline about the Texas Tribune’s video streaming of the event, which captured online viewers from coast to coast, was, “Making politics and policy news sexy,” with the breathless story focusing on the magic of this whole “live video” thing. To us at The UpTake, it was as if CJR had caught up to the invention of the trans-Atlantic telegraph. What Hath God Wrought, indeed. I have news for CJR and other folks who have just begun to tumble to the fact that delivery of public-interest events like Davis’ brave stand against a punitive anti-abortion proposal has jumped ahead of the 20th Century. Continue Reading →

A contentious, 12-hour convention Saturday failed to endorse a DFL candidate for Mayor of Minneapolis, increasing the significance of the role that Ranked Choice Voting will play in the November 5 election and giving a crowded field of candidates more room for maneuver. Continue Reading →

Macalester alumni are upset over the Saint Paul-based liberal arts college’s crackdown on student activism. The Kicks Well Fargo Off Campus campaign seeks divestment from the bank for its involvement in the housing foreclosure crisis. Continue Reading →

Terrance “Mookie” Franklin, a 22 year-old African-American male was shot during a shootout with police on May 10th in the Uptown Neighborhood of Minneapolis. Friends and family say there are too many questions surrounding his death and are demanding answers from the police. Continue Reading →

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Press release from the Minnesota Poor People's Campaign: Demanding immediate steps to end persecution and deportation of immigrants, 18 Minnesotans were arrested Tuesday morning after they simultaneously blocked the Blue Line light-rail tracks at the Fort Snelling station and an entrance to the nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building. This act of non-violent civil disobedience was supported by more than 200 poor people, clergy and advocates in separate rallies at both the State Capitol Monday evening and at the Fort Snelling station early Tuesday morning.

Minneapolis has just released a 20 year draft comprehensive plan affecting all its public policies from health, transportation, parks, jobs land use and housing. State law requires all metro area cities to produce comprehensive plans every ten years in order to achieve orderly and coordinated growth.

Everyone has a story to tell, the person you pass on the sidewalk, stand in line with at the grocery store, sit next to on the train or bus and YOU. However, not everyone has the tools or techniques required to share stories in a compelling and meaningful way.

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The UpTake is an independent, nonprofit (501 c 3) online news organization that began its work in 2007 with a few simple ideas: That media should find and tell the truth without fear or favor; that citizens have the tools to report and explain events without relying on news controlled by large corporations; and that it is the duty of citizens to hold power accountable and to make government transparent to the governed.